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The Land of Gorch
thumb|300px|The Gorch inhabitants: (left to right) Scred, The Mighty Favog, Peuta, Wisss, Vazh and King Ploobis. thumb|300px|The Muppets with Chevy Chase and Raquel Welch thumb|300px|The Muppets with Gerald Ford's press secretary Ron Nessen The Land of Gorch was a recurring sketch on the first season of Saturday Night Live. Lorne Michaels, executive producer of the show, stated in a Tomorrow Show interview prior to the series' premiere that these sketches would feature a whole new group of adult Muppets "who can stay up late." __TOC__ The Land of Gorch is a swampy alien landscape ruled by the blustering, oafish King Ploobis, who ignores his shrewish wife, Queen Peuta, in favor of his lovely female servant Vazh. Ploobis' right hand creature is the toady Scred, who cravenly sucks up to the king while carrying on a discreet love affair with Peuta. Ploobis' son, Wisss, is a dropout "crater-head", who sucks intoxicating gases from holes in the ground. The ultimate authority in Gorch is the Mighty Favog, who offers wisdom in exchange for regular sacrifices. Jim Henson, Jerry Nelson, and Frank Oz performed the roles of Ploobis, Scred, and the Mighty Favog respectively, while Alice Tweedie, Fran Brill, and Richard Hunt performed the roles of Peuta, Vazh, and Wisss. Opening narration for the sketches was supplied by Saturday Night Live staff announcer Don Pardo. Henson's original notes include the phrases "Jung/types" and "comedia del arte" (sic), indicating that Henson thought of the Gorch characters as broad comic archetypes -- the "loud / angry / dominant" king, the "haughty / pretentious / shallow" queen, and the "evil / sneaky / crafty" henchman."10/11/1975 “SAT NIGHT LIVE! First show.”", Jim Henson's Red Book. Posted on Henson.com October 11, 2010. The series of sketches lasted from SNL's premiere in October 1975 to April 1976 (and became a recurring joke in the next season). The original proposals and scripts refer to the sketches as Gortch rather than Gorch; over time the spelling was changed, and both versions are found in the Henson files. According to the Muppet Morsels on The Muppet Show: Season One DVD, only hired writers for Saturday Night Live, and not Henson employees, were allowed to write Gorch sketches. Other writing credits went to SNL contributors Chevy Chase and Al Franken. Despite this, Jim Henson did write one sketch, for the episode hosted by Raquel Welch. In a 2009 interview Jerry Nelson revealed that he wrote the sketch with Lily Tomlin and Scred.Nelson, Jerry Tough Pigs Interview The writing staff were generally less than pleased with the presence of the Muppets. Writer Alan Zweibel expressed his views on the topic: During the middle of the season, after a deal to produce The Muppet Show in England had been made, the sets were destroyed, and the Muppets were officially "let go" from the show's regular cast. All of the Gorch sketches from the second half of the season revolved around the idea that the Muppets had been fired, and were trying desperately to get their jobs back. In 1983, Jim Henson commented on what happened behind the scenes at Saturday Night Live: In early 1999, Frank Oz also commented on the show: The segments dealt with a number of racy issues: alcohol abuse, adultery, species extinction, drugs, and other "adult" topics, though each was treated with the expected SNL irreverence. Skits were indeed performed live. The exception was the January 24, 1976 episode; that sketch was pre-taped on January 10th, during the pre-shoot of the Elliott Gould episode. The Muppets were supposed to have appeared on the Saturday Night Live episode hosted by Gerald Ford's press secretary, Ron Nessen, as evidenced by a behind-the-scenes photo and Don Pardo's announcing the Muppet cast during that episode's credits. Nessen explained at the end of the episode that they could not be there due to "technical complications." The Gorch sketches from the first season were included on the Saturday Night Live: The Complete First Season DVD set. While the Gorch characters were never significantly utilized following their expulsion from SNL, they can be glimpsed (minus Favog) in the crowd of Muppets during the "Rainbow Connection" finale in The Muppet Movie (1979). Their presence was referenced years later in a 2011 episode hosted by Jason Segel, complete with an onscreen photo of Scred. Sketches Cast *Jim Henson as King Ploobis *Jerry Nelson as Scred *Frank Oz as the Mighty Favog *Alice Tweedie as Queen Peuta *Fran Brill as Vazh *Rhonda Hansome as Vazh (October 11, 1975) *Richard Hunt as Wisss See also *Land of Gorch Characters *Land of Gorch goofs Sources External links *Toughpigs.com: The Decline and Fall of Gorch __NOWYSIWYG__ Category:The Land of Gorch